Court rejects Pennsylvania voter-ID lawNBC News LogoSearchSearchNBC News LogoToday Logo - Analysis & Updates [2026-10-01] | Latest News Today

Jan. 17, 2014, 10:48 AM EST / Source: MSNBC TV

By Steve Benen

"Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal," McGinley wrote as part of his 103-page ruling.

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Going into the 2012 election cycle, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) and Republican state lawmakers created harsh, new voting restrictions, including a voter-ID law intended to prevent voter fraud. State officials later conceded they had literally no evidence that such fraud exists, but GOP policymakers imposed the new burden anyway.

Just five weeks before the elections, a judge put the voter-ID law on hold, ordering Pennsylvania not to enforce it while the legal proceedings continued. This morning, the state court took the next step and rejected the law on the merits.

A Pennsylvania judge has struck down the law requiring the state’s voters to show photo identification at the polls. Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley said the requirement that was the centerpiece of Pennsylvania’s embattled 2012 voter identification law places an unreasonable burden on the fundamental right to vote.

“Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal,” McGinley wrote as part of his 103-page ruling.

He added that the law “unreasonably burdens the right to vote” and poses “a substantial threat” to hundreds of thousands of eligible Pennsylvania voters.

Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and one of the lead attorneys in the case, told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette: “Once the Commonwealth admitted they couldn’t identify any of the fraud supposedly prevented by the voter ID law, the act was plainly revealed to be nothing more than a voter suppression tool.”

Indeed, let’s not forget that Pennsylvania state Senate President Dominic Pileggi (R) boasted in the summer of 2012 that the Republicans’ voter-ID law, ostensibly about the integrity of the electoral process, “is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.”

The Corbett administration will, of course, appeal today’s ruling.

Update: Here’s the ruling (pdf).

Second Update: Rick Hasen has more, describing the decision as “a clear victory for opponents of voter id laws.”

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Editor's Note

Court rejects Pennsylvania voter-ID law

For Subscribers

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

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For Subscribers

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

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